LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Class 


GOOD  LUNCHEONS 

FOR  RURAL  SCHOOLS 
WITHOUT  A  KITCHEN 

By  ELLEN  H.  RICHARDS 


WHITCOMB  &  BARROWS,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


GOOD  LUNCHEONS 

FOR  RURAL  SCHOOLS 
WITHOUT  A  KITCHEN 

By  ELLEN  H.  RICHARDS 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


WHITCOMB  &  BARROWS,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


~7 


LIBRARIAN'S  FUND 


Copyright  1906 
By  Ellen  H.  Richards 


OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY 


GOOD  LUNCHEONS  FOR  RURAL 
SCHOOLS  WITHOUT  A  KITCHEN 


THERE  has  been  much  hesitation  on  the  part  of 
even  the  most  ardent  advocates  of  economics 
as  a  public  school  study,  because  of  the  expense  in- 
volved in  the  fittings  that  are  found  in  the  large 
schools  in  the  cities,  with  gas  and  running  water. 
But  if,  as  we  believe,  conditions  have  so  changed  as 
to  make  it  imperative  that  "  the  woman  who  spends  " 
should  know  something  of  marketable  products,  the 
pupils  of  the"  rural  schools  need  the  opportunity  to 
gain  this  knowledge  just  as  much  as  those  living  in 
the  cities  need  it.  Indeed,  from  the  efforts  making 
to  revive  village  industries  and  to  discover  new  uses 
for  the  materials  going  to  waste  in  every  country 
town,  it  is  easy  to  see  the  opportunity  of  the  consoli- 
dated school  where  food,  textiles,  and  industries  may 
be  studied,  with  illustrations,  where  inspiration  may  be 
given  and  received,  and  a  new  center  of  influence 
developed. 

Suggestion  will  bear  abundant  fruit  if  made  at 
the  age  when  impressions  are  permanent. 

This  recommendation  is  no  plea  for  fads  and 
frills,  taking  time  better  spent.  It  is  no  argument 
for  undue  form  or  ceremony,  but  a  plain  statement 
of  the  use  of  that  degree  of  orderliness  and  system 


217703 


which  affects  favorably  the  human  mind  as  seen  in 
the  pleasure  derived  from  orderly  processions  and 
balanced  arrangements. 

To  be  specific,  the  luncheon  taken  to  school 
,y  be  good  and  sufficient  food,  but  if  crushed  — 
jam  mingled  with  cookies,  butter  squeezed  over  the 
doughnuts  —  if  eaten  with  chalky  fingers  on  the 
schoolhouse  doorsteps  in  company  with  flies,  the  addi- 
tional charm  of  appetite  is  frequently  wanting. 

The  latest  science  gives  us  warrant  for  paying 
attention  to  ceremony  and  the  surroundings  of  a 
meal,  since  they  affect  the  beneficial  flow  of  the 
digestive  juices.  Because  a  child  lives  in  the  country 
and  goes  to  a  country  school  is  no  reason  why  that 
child  should  have  boorish  manners  or  eat  in  a  piggish 
way.  Too  much  ceremony  costs  time  and  money, 
but  a  little  is  good  for  both  digestion  and  manners. 

The  noon  hour  in  these, schools  should  be  utilized 
for  social  training  and  the  acquirement  of  good  hab- 
its and  refined  tastes,  instead  of  being  worse  than 
wasted,  as  is  at  present  too  often  the  case.  One 
evil-minded  pupil  turned  loose  in  a  rural  school  may 
demoralize  the  whole  community.  Rough  games  and 
horse  play  or  sitting  on  a  bench  on  the  shady  side 
of  the  schoolhouse  are  not  the  ideal  recreations.  Let 
there  be  a  helpful  supervision  of  the  occupations  of 
the  noon  hour,  by  a  person  provided  by  the  local 
woman's  club,  if  there  is  no  other  way,  and  have  both 
boys  and  girls  taught  what  to  eat  and  how  to  eat  it, 
and  how  to  take  care  of  the  refuse,  all  in  a  spirit  of 


enjoyment,  not  drudgery.     (The  school  grounds  will 
afford  outdoor  amusement  in  the  same  way.) 

The  consolidated  school,  where  most  of  the  chil- 
dren stay  for  luncheon,  offers  the  opportunity  for 
having  an  orderly  half  hour  for  eating.  Each  child 
may  bring  his  own  luncheon,  of  course,  and  the  first 
difficulty  will  arise  in  the  secretiveness  and  shame  of 
those  who  have  what  is  termed  coarser  food,  or  whose 
mothers  do  not  take  time  to  provide  carefully.  This 
is,  however,  not  insuperable,  and  in  time  tact  and 
patience  will  draw  in  all  the  pupils. 

There  should  be  a  table  tastefully  laid,  with 
flowers  or  fruit  in  the  center,  on  the  paper  cloth, 
and  certain  common  dishes  disposed  about.  At  each 
place  may  be  a  plate,  of  paper  perhaps,  with  a  round 
or  square  of  paraffin  paper  under  it  to  protect  it  — 
set  on  one  of  the  pretty  and  inexpensive  doilies — a 
mug  or  cup  or  glass,  and  a  fork.  A  group  of  foui 
or  five  pupils  should  be  told  off  each  day  to  prepare 
the  table,  and  there  should  be  competition  and  pos- 
sibly a  prize  to  the  group  gaining  the  best  results  in 
the  least  time.  Another  group  may  prepare  one 
common  dish  to  cost  not  over  the  one  or  two  cents 
which  each  child  pays  daily  for  candy.  This  will  be 
an  appetizer  for  the  luncheon  brought  from  home. 
This  dish  should  be  one  of  those  which  has 
discussed  and  prepared  several  times  in  the  course 
of  the  lessons  on  food  and  nutrition,  which  it  is  the 
right  of  every  child  to  have  in  its  school  course. 

At  the  present  time  a  sufficient  number  of  good 


meals  to  serve  all  the  purposes  of  illustration  may 
be  served  without  a  kitchen.  How? 

First,  many  good  foods  are  picked  from  vines 
or  trees  in  condition  to  eat,  with  the  power  of  the 
sun  and  wind  and  rain  still  in  them.  Kernels  of 
wheat  shaken  from  the  head  have  been  eaten  from 
time  immemorial,  as  have  apples  picked  from  the 
tree.  The  strongest,  most  agile  animal,  the  squirrel, 
lives  on  nuts.  Man  may  add  to  these  from  over- 
flowing markets  many  other  fruits  (oranges,  bananas), 
many  green  vegetables  (lettuce,  tomatoes),  and  with 
butter,  cream,  cheese,  eggs,  and  milk  may  make  up 
a  most  delicious  and  nutritious  diet. 

If  to  all  the  foods  picked  ready  to  eat  there  are 
added  those  prepared  on  a  large  scale  and  taken  from 
packages  instead  of  from  trees,  it  will  be  seen  how 
rich  a  variety  is  possible  The  prepared  cereals, 
crackers,  zwiebach,  wafers,  biscuit  of  all  varieties, 
cassava  bread,  rice  wafers,  puffed  rice,  popped  corn 
—  there  is  a  large  supply  at  hand.  The  fine  quality 
of  canned  fruits  and  vegetables  obtainable  make  it 
quite  unnecessary  for  a  rural  school  to  fit  up  a 
kitchen  in  order  to  teach  food  values  and  bills  of 
fare. 

The  experience  of  most  country  children  is  that 
the  pleasure  of  a  meal  is  marred  by  the  drudgery  of 
cooking  beforehand  and  of  washing  the  greasy  dishes 
afterward.  Eliminate  the  dishwashing  and  a  great 
gain  is  made.  Teach  the  rinsing  of  dishes  used  for 
milk  and  the  plunging  of  all  others  that  are  not 


greasy  into  cold  water.  Rounds  may  be  cut  from 
paraffin  paper  to  place  the  food  on  in  the  plates, 
and  this  paper  be  burned  after  using.  Paper  plates 
may  be  used  instead  of  china,  only  they  must  be 
burned  after  a  time,  after  being  handled,  although  it 
is  a  good  lesson  to  see  that  the  children's  hands  are 
clean  before  they  touch  food  or  dishes.  Here  is 
where  the  need  of  hot  water  comes  in,  and  no  school^" 
house  should  be  without  it.  It  is  a  simple  matter 
to  have  a  small  kerosene  stove  or  a  chafing  dish  (and 
this  can  be  used  for  cooking  eggs  on  the  spot,  for 
heating  milk  in  cold  weather,  even  to  make  cocoa) ; 
laundry  heaters  are  not  expensive  nor  troublesome  t< 
run.  Even  if  the  children  bring  their  own  lunches 
it  is  the  only  safe  and  decent  thing  to  see  that  there 
are  hot  water  and  soap  and  towels.  The  last  they 
can  bring  from  home. 

There  is  no  need  for  a  school  to  wait  for  even 
the  kerosene  stove  in  order  to  secure  a  kettle  of  hot 
water  or  pail  of  cocoa  or  soup  or  stew.  The  hay  boir 
or  fireless  cooker  will  solve  the  problem.  It  only 
means  a  box  with  packing  —  hay,  old  pillows,  even 
sawdust  —  into  which  the  kettle  or  pail  is  put  after 
having  become  boiling  hot  and  for  meats  kept  hot 
for  fifteen  minutes.  The  larger  the  quantity  the 
better  it  holds  the  heat.  Less  than  one  gallon  needs 
careful  and  abundant  packing,  and  in  very  cold 
weather  or  for  long  distance  transportation  it  is  well 
to  warm  the  packing  by  a  pail  of  water,  which  is 
taken  out  as  the  food  goes  in.  Many  appetizing 


dishes  may  thus  be  prepared  and  sent  with  the  chil- 
dren to  school  to  cook  and  keep  hot  until  luncheon. 
Mothers  may  take  turns  in  making  up  their  favorite 
dishes.  It  will  be  an  excellent  lesson  in  economical 
preparation. 

There  must  be  some  psychological  reason  why 
nearly  all  children  detest  fats,  or,  quite  as  likely,  we 
are  wrong  in  expecting  them  to  eat  crude  fat ;  nuts 
and  cream  are  a  more  agreeable  form.  Also  the 
operations  of  cooking  in  the  home  are  lengthy,  and 
fours  seem -days  to  children.  On  the  other  hand, 
children  as  nearly  universally  delight  in  laying  a  table, 
putting  on  the  food  effectively,  and  in  putting  things 
back  into  place.  There  is  usually  an  innate  sense 
of  order  which  may  be  fostered.  If,  therefore,  the 
two  disagreeable  and  time-consuming  portions  of 
meal  serving  can  be  eliminated  a  great  gain  will  have 
been  made. 

Let  us  see  what  may  be  done  by  a  teacher  in 
a  rural  school. 

As  to  food.  It  has  been  found  out  that  man's 
food  always  contains  five  distinct  classes  of  sub- 
stances. First,  water,  either  by  itself,  as  from  well 
or  spring  or  tap,  or  in  milk  or  fruit  (the  apple  and 
the  orange  have  some  80  per  cent  in  the  edible 
portion)  or  vegetables  (the  potato  has  75  per  cent) ; 
meat  also,  70  to  80  per  cent.  Children  need  one  or 
two  quarts  a  day.  Second,  mineral  salts,  of  which 
most  natural  foods  have  enough.  Only  foods  which 
have  been  separated  from  their  natural  forms,  like 


white  flour  and  sugar  and  butter,  need  to  have  some 
substance  —  salt,  for  instance  —  added  to  them  or 
eaten  at  the  same  meal. 

This  leaves  three  classes  to  consider  in  selecting 
our  foods,  (i)  Proteid  (from  a  Greek  word  meaning 
first)  is  of  first  importance,  because  such  substances, 
always  containing  nitrogen,  are  in  some  unknown 
way  necessary  to  life.  Again,  all  natural  food  ma- 
terials, as  fruits,  nuts,  milk,  meat,  and  vegetables, 
contain  nitrogen.  Some  are  richer  than  others,  and 
therefore  these  synonyms  must  be  learned,  for  noth- 
ing can  replace  these  nitrogenous  compounds. 

(2)  Fats.     Children  will   soon  learn  that  we  do 
not  mean  only  greasy  or  solid  lumps  of  meat  fat  by 
this  term,  but  that  nuts,  corn  meal,  oatmeal,  olives, 
etc,  contain  a  pleasant  form,  as  do  milk,  cheese,  and 
butter.     Fat  in  this  sense  is  second  only  to  proteids 
as  essential  to  life. 

(3)  Starches  and  sugars,  of  which  there  are  so 
many  that  a  term,  "  carbohydrates,"  has  been  chosen 
to  cover  them  all.     These  are  most  abundant  and 
cheapest,  and  hence  form  the  largest    bulk  of   hu- 
man food  (cereals,  crackers,  bread,  sugar,  potatoes, 
bananas). 

For  each  meal  it  is  well  to  have  all  kinds,  so  that 
the  little  cells  of  which  the  body  is  made  may  find 
just  what  they  need  as  the  blood  stream  flows  by 
them.  Then  for  breakfast  we  may  have  fruit  of  any 
kind,  fresh  or  dried,  any  of  the  cereals  with  milk  or 
cream  (not  sugar),  which  gives  us  fat  and  starch,  with 


8 

sugar  in  the  milk  —  the  best  kind.  Or  we  may  have 
crackers  or  bread  and  butter  with  cheese.  A  beaten 
egg  will  give  more  nitrogen  if  it  is  needed.  A  ba- 
nana may  take  the  place  of  bread  or  cereals. 

For  dinner  it  is  well  to  have  more  hearty  food. 
Instead  of  meat,  nuts  or  cheese  or  eggs  may  be  eaten 
if  they  have  not  been  used  for  breakfast.  There  are 
so  many  good  foods  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  have 
the  same  thing  three  times  a  day.  For  older  people 
salads  come  here,  with  the  rich  olive  oil ;  nuts,  apples, 
celery,  fruits,  etc. 

For  dessert,  fruits,  especially  the  hearty  dried 
fruits  —  raisins,  figs,  dates  —  and  a  little  pure  white 
candy  or  chocolate. 

For  supper  or  school  luncheon  it  ought  to  be 
possible  always  to  have  plenty  of  clean,  sweet  milk, 
and  there  is  no  better  food,  when  it  is  clean  and 
sweet,  than  two  glasses  of  milk  with  bread  or  crackers. 
There  is  now  variety  enough  in  crackers  and  biscuits 
for  every  day  in  the  month.  As  a  pleasant  addition, 
some  one  of  the  dried  fruits,  or  some  jam  or  jelly, 
different  from  any  used  before  in  the  day,  may  be 
used,  but  the  children's  supper  should  be  of  two  or 
three  things  only. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  adapt  illustrations  of  well- 
balanced  meals  to  local  conditions,  to  use  foods  of 
equal  value,  to  make  up  deficiencies  in  one  food  with 
small  additions  of  another,  as  the  rice-eating  peoples 
use  fish  roe. 

In  the  use  of  language  for  expression  of  ideas, 


not  only  the  right  word  for  the  idea,  but  also  synony- 
mous words  with  a  like  or  similar  meaning,  those 
which  carry  delicate  shades  of  feeling,  are  desired  to 
add  variety  and  force  to  speech  and  writing.  So  in 
food  it  is  desirable,  not  only  to  have  food  of  the 
right  composition,  but  to  have  a  choice  of  food  syn- 
onyms which  are  nearly  enough  alike  to  be  substi- 
tuted one  for  the  other,  as  taste  and  convenience 
dictate.  This  is  one  of  the  chief  lessons  to  be 
learned  in  school,  and  which  often  cannot  be  learned 
at  home.  It  will  save  time  and  money  and  be  most 
beneficial  to  health  to  get  these  few  facts  before  all 
school  children.  If  no  set  time  is  allowed,  it  may 
be  taught  incidentally  in  connection  with  the  school 
luncheon  as  here  described. 

The  application  to  the  school  luncheon  of  these 
principles,  which  have  been  explained  by  the  teacher, 
will  be  by  easy  stages,  one  thing  at  a  time,  and 
chiefly  by  stimulating  interest  on  the  part  of  the 
children.  Charts  of  food  composition  on 
will  give  a  basis  for  further  study.  Let  the  figures 
or,  better,  lines  representing  proportions  impress 
themselves  on  the  children's  minds.  Mere  didactic 
instruction  will  not  accomplish  much. 

From  "the  true  history  of  one  country  cooking 
school,"  as  related  by  the  teacher,  the  following 
extract  is  made : 

"  The  school  committee  and  the  teacher  discussech—^ 
the  possibility  of  preparing  warm  lunches,  the  chil-  I 
dren  doing  the  actual  work,  the  teacher  serving 


IO 


buyer  and  steward.  There  are  three  objects  in  this 
—  the  health  of  the  children,  their  instruction  in 
cooking,  and  also  such  instruction  in  table  manners 
as  might  be  given  without  hurting  their  pride  or 
feelings. 

"The  teacher  estimated  that  a  bill  of  fare  for 
one  warm  dish  each  noon  could  be  provided  at  a 
cost  of  two  cents  a  child,  each  bringing  in  addition 
bread  and  butter.  Arrangements  were  to  be  made 
that  children  who  had  not  the  pennies  could  pay  for 
their  dinners  by  doing  some  work  for  the  teacher  — 
the  other  pupils  knowing  nothing  of  this  arrangement. 

"  Ready  money  is  scarce  with  farmers,  even  as 
little  as  two  cents  a  day  for  a  goodly  family;  but 
milk  and  vegetables  are  plenty,  and  farmers  are  gen- 
erous according  to  their  means,  and  they  often  sent 
offerings,  which  made  the  expense  less  for  the 
experiment.  .  .  . 

"  Each  child  brought  two  napkins,  a  knife,  fork, 
spoon,  plate,  cup  and  saucer.  This  was  the  intro- 
duction of  some  of  them  to  napkins.  Two  napkins 
were  needed,  because  each  child  had  to  use  his  desk 
as  a  table,  and  tables  must  have  tablecloths. 

"  The  equipments  were  given  by  various  persons. 
The  committeeman  sent  a  kerosene  stove  with  oven, 
which  would  not  bake  at  all  unless  placed  over  one 
of  the  stoves  that  served  to  heat  the  room.  .  .  .  The 
other  articles  of  household  utility  were  half  a  dozen 
dish  wipers,  two  dishcloths,  mixing  pan,  dish  pan, 
spider,  frying  pan,  large  kettle,  big  spoon,  boxes  for 


XI 

salt,  pepper,  flour,  and  some  groceries  that  were 
kept  on  hand.  The  boys  made  a  convenient  cup- 
board for  these  and  another  for  the  dishes,  and  doors 
on  them  kept  out  the  dust.  .  .  . 

"  It  took  some  planning  to  arrange  the  work  so 
that  lessons  should  not  suffer  nor  be  interfered  with 
by  the  necessity  for  the  cook's  presence  at  the  stove, 
but  certain  regulations  soon  worked  themselves  out. 
Unless  a  girl  had  her  lessons  she  could  not  serve 
as  cook,  and  there  were  others  always  glad  to  serve 
in  her  stead.  .  .  .  The  cooking  force  consisted  of 
one  big  girl,  who  ought  to  know  something,  and 
three  helpers.  This  force  was  changed  each  week. 
The  week's  bill  of  fare  was  given  to  the  big  girl, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  see  that  everything  was  pre- 
pared before  ten  minutes  of  nine,  that  the  room  was 
neat,  that  the  food  was  put  on  the  stove  at  a  proper 
hour,  served  properly,  the  dishes  washed,  and  all 
tidied  again.  No  vegetables  were  peeled  during 
school  hours,  nor  other  work  of  that  order  allowed 
to  come  in  study  hours.  .  .  . 

"The  cooking  done  by  these  children  between 
eight  and  fourteen  years  was  a  revelation  to  the 
teacher,  who  had  seen  some  of  that  done  by  their 
elders. 

"To  the  objection  that  air  in  a  schoolroom  is  bad, 
and  food  cooked  therein  must  be  unappetizing,  there 
is  only  one  reply  —  a  country  school  can  have  all  the 
fresh  air  needed  —  and  this  school  did.  .  .  . 

"  A  small  expenditure  of  money  will  fit  any  school 


12 


for  the  cooking  lessons  which  are  practical  for  that 
school.  Interest  and  zeal  on  the  part  of  teacher  and 
pupils  will  make  the  work  successful  under  difficulties, 
and  often  children  learn  more  when  things  are  not 
made  too  easy  for  them.  Economy  in  use  of  time  and 
materials,  neatness,  attention  to  one's  work,  regard- 
less of  that  of  others,  are  good  lessons  to  learn,  and 
they  will  all  come  to  the  country  school  where  cook- 
ing is  taught,  even  without  a  modern  improvement." 
The  overworked  teacher  cannot  be  expected  to 
give  thought  and  time  to  such  oversight  in  her  short 
rest  hour,  and  the  taxpayers  will  not  at  first  see  the 
advantage  to  their  pockets  in  providing  extra  help; 
but  the  field  is  open  to  the  woman's  club  of  the  town, 
and  offers  to  them  an  example  of  cooperation,  a  sub- 
ject of  study  in  perfecting  details  of  management 
which  they  will  be  able  to  cope  with  as  circumstances 
demand.  No  more  interesting  work  and  surely  no 
more  profitable  occupation  could  be  found  for  the 
talent  now  lying  idle  or  wastefully  used  in  every 
town  in  the  land. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $!.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


9   V. 
MAY   10  1935 


RED.  CIR-HOV  23  77 


LD  21-100m-8,'S4 


